In 1887 architect Wills Proudfoot
(1860-1928) selected this yet-undeveloped location to build his personal
residence. He designed the Colonial Revival cottage with an English
gambrel roof, an elliptical gable window, a 15-foot-tall colored glass
window lighting the interior stairwell, and a circular entrance porch
supported by Doric columns.

The basement and first floor
walls are built of native limestone. A cartouche inscribed Hillside
Cottage is located beneath the colored glass window on the north
elevation.

Leased for two years as the
clubhouse for the Wichita Country Club in 1901, the house was
headquarters for the gentleman golfers who braved the buffalo grass of
the present day College Hill Park.

Proudfoot’s business partner,
George Bird, designed and built his own residence, The Aviary, nearby.